


Insomnia

by GabrielLaVedier



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Abuse, Cuckolding, Drama, Emotional Manipulation, Gaslighting, Multi, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 09:15:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25847194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GabrielLaVedier/pseuds/GabrielLaVedier
Summary: Nick Wilde hasn't been sleeping well. He fears no nightmares, no, his life has become one. He is a wreck. And in a little cabin in Bunnyburrow, it all comes to a head.(Loosely inspired by the song "Did you sleep well?" by the band Crooked Still, along with the needlessly excessive and profoundly thoughtless, cheap and idiotic spate of cuckold Nick media)
Relationships: Judy Hopps/Nick Wilde, Judy Hopps/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 31
Kudos: 12





	Insomnia

I do not own Zootopia, that belongs to Disney. This a fan work made solely for the sake of amusement.

Warning: Contains adultery, gaslighting, mental manipulation, and other aspects of cultic control

**Insomnia**

**By: Gabriel LaVedier**

The lonesome night of the land outside of Zootopia faded into darkness in a gradient. The glowing brilliance of the city-state that never slept faded out slowly, the grip of glare dying, light pollution giving way to thousands of stars and the gentle glow of the moon. In a way, the quasi-industrialized halo of the city-state faded, as did the rural lushness of farmland and hill become an admixture with sylvan land of trees growing thick and tall.

Down a lonely ribbon of black, twin pinpricks of light turned into blaring high beams, emerging from a very large, rather pricey SUV. It broke the speed limit by some margin, but with no traffic the only danger was to the occupants, meaning the driver seemed to care little for anyone.

Behind the wheel, an enormous tiger, the top part of his face in shadow as he sat high in the driver's seat. "I don't know why we have to come out to the sticks."

"My family wanted to see me, and I need to keep them happy," his passenger said. Judy Hopps, in a tight pink tank top and lycra shorts. She smiled up at the rearview mirror, flashing her buck teeth for the rear passenger. The tiger did likewise, sharp fangs glistening. "Put on your best smile, Nick."

Nick Wilde, hustler supreme. He smiled weakly, in his usual loud shirt and tan slacks. He was huddled down, like a shy child, but her could still see the eyes in the mirror. "You know me, I'm good at it."

"Keep the yokels happy or you know what I'll do," the tiger snarled.

"You do it anyway," Nick muttered.

Judy's ears twitched and she gave a cruel smile. "Looks like a day in the cage for little Nick. And a slap downstairs. You should know how it works, Nick. This is how it's supposed to be. This is how it is." The threat echoed in the dark silence as the vehicle cut through the umbral stillness.

They arrived at a fairly large vacation cabin with cheerful signs indicating it was the property of the Hopps family. It was made of rough wood, a step up from logs, but whitewashed with old fashioned lime and plaster sealant, the trim with happy carvings of simple bunny figures painted red. A power line ran from the lines along the road and into it, another stretching from the main cabin to a storage building that the SUV was parked in, along with an outhouse by that.

While Judy directed Nick in the unloading of excessively heavy bags, the tiger set to work ripping down the signs and crushing them into the dirt. The ones on posts had the wooden poles snapped, while hanging signs were torn down. "Bad wind over here. They'll like it better this way."

"Don't worry, Nick was just clumsy," Judy said, flicking the switch inside and pointing to where the bags should be dropped. The interior was country cozy. A decent sized space that was somewhat like a glorified studio apartment. One single room with an old wood stove near the door, an old sofa in front of a fireplace with a plush rug on the floor before it, a little kitchen area with a tap, and a big bed at the far side of the cabin.

"We know why we're here," the tiger rumbled, a claw flicking out and smoothly sliding through Judy's top, slicing the tight fabric open easily. "If you're still dressed when I'm done I'll do it to you, faster. And if I have to sit in some hick emergency room and say I was defending myself I'll make sure you have a reason to need emergency treatment.

Nick swiftly stripped down, seeming to have the technique down to an art, the only consequence being that his tie was soon wrapped around his head, blindfolding him.

"Okay Nick," Judy said, from somewhere to the side. "Time to play."

"And don't cry this time, you little bitch," the tiger threatened, his voice looming closer and closer.

The night dissolved into a kind of madness few knew existed and fewer had had inflicted on them. The isolation made the proceedings wilder than ever. The screams were louder and more terrible. They filled the night. The cold BITE of hate and fear rang out in the whimpering sobs and shrieks. They were over too soon, and Judy was asleep in a panting heap, with a full bed.

The first rays of dawn found her alone.

She looked all around but there was no sign of either man. Just the disheveled bed, and the scattered suitcases. The destruction caused by their fun. She could only smile remembering how Nick sobbed, screamed, but still took it. Weakling. She enjoyed the sight and her own turn. It was nearing winter. Not quite snow season yet but with the occasional wild climate shifts thanks to the long-reaching influence of Zootopia the coldness and humility saw hoarfrost riming the windows, and her breath came in tiny puffs now and then. Hot blood, a hot bun. A powerful bun. She moved over to the stove, lit some pre-cut wood inside and set a coffee pot to boil. She settled against it while thinking about the day she had grabbed for more than some stupid country bunny would normally grasp for.

o o o

Like any bunny, Judy wanted children. Normally, no problem for a bunny. But Nick presented a problem. They couldn't just go about it like normal mammals. They required more than the usual. Nick had been the one to joke about... no, he jokingly suggested then subtly seriously suggested artificial means. That ran into money but he said he'd find a way to make it work, maybe hustle some goodwill discounts from a clinic. Judy had felt something, something tiny, click inside. The idea was tempting.

"Hope it takes this time, sport!" The rabbit that was leaving their house was amazingly tall for a bunny. Some giant breed, mottled with orange and gray, athletic, excessively so. He always came and went with running shorts and a tank top. He always called Nick sport and slapped him a little too hard on the back. He always left with a smile.

"He must be shooting blanks," Nick said, staring at the door with a frown. "It's weird enough he literally calls himself a studding service. And what kind of creep needs me to watch. What, am I scoring? I need to check off a box to make sure he's earning his pay? This idiot..."

Judy had told herself she was looking online for in vitro services. But she was a bunny, and knew about rabbit holes. The labyrinthine knot of tunnels, each new one going deeper and making the way more confused. Even with a good sense of direction, lacking number plates and small maps could make it a harrowing experience. She had seen suggestions... ads from agencies. Modeling agencies they said. Male prostitutes. She should have gotten vice on them. But she got in touch. Convinced Nick it was a bunny thing, a special, legal agency that helped rabbits get pregnant. "We just... we try next week," Just said, panting. She was still in bed, spread out wide, exhausted.

Nick shrugged, made his way into the bathroom. "I need a shower after that. He's sleazy. And that's me saying it," he said with a dark chuckle and sigh. As he absentmindedly opened the mirror cabinet he jostled a few items on Judy's low shelves, knocking down the little bit of makeup she had, some perfume he had gotten her, and... her birth control. The large spiral of pills rattled. The date shown was recent. And counting the empty slots showed they were current as far as dosage went. He stared at them, just stared, his eyes wide.

"We try next week," Judy said. She was there at the door. Bunny ears could hear everything. "Keep paying."

o o o

The coffee was bitter, dark and almost thick. She wasn't good with wood stoves and a percolator. Even her hick homestead had gas stoves and electric coffee pots. Plus this was a getaway to have a wild time. She was lucky there were things stocked in the cabin. Coffee but no sugar. Her father always made sure no sugar, it attracted ants. She looked out on the crisp morning through the little fractal cracks of the delicate hoar on the windows, the tiny white glitters of the dew turned to frost. A little BITE of cold came through and made her heated, naked body shiver. Another sip of the coffee took a little edge off.

She couldn't imagine where their stud had taken Nick or what they... no, she knew what they were doing. She had traded up and up to new studs until she found just the right one. They had found the right one. She made sure to drill it into his head with every new stud, it was right. It was the place he belonged. She made sure that he recognized how much they needed each new stud, even after it stopped being about breeding. It might be, someday. But more important things had taken over.

Taking over. That was the whole thing. She looked out the window and drank her burnt, viscous coffee. Power. She had had power, knowing she could control what Nick knew, what he heard and did. Because he did it for her. No little bunny anymore. She was in the driver's seat. And she was good at it.

o o o

"Nick," Judy whispered, nudging Nick in the side. "Get up, he's here."

"Carrots, it's..." Nick's bleary eyes wavered in focus, widening to take in enough light to see the digital readout. "It's three in the morning. We have a shift today. Who's here? The guy to fix the sink?"

"I don't have a shift, I'm on pre-maternity," Judy asserted.

"Pre... maternity?" Nick asked, deeply incredulous.

"It's a rabbit thing," Judy casually mentioned. "Our bodies get very sensitive, and I need sporadic days off to prepare for pregnancy."

"Right, the studding. The pill had better..." Nick started.

"Nick, you were mistaken, those weren't birth control," Judy flatly asserted.

"I can read, carrots, and with my eyes facing forward, a little better than you, I know the prescription," Nick grunted.

"You remember everything wrong, it was just an old spiral that I hadn't thrown away. Stop delaying, get up and get your wallet," Judy demanded.

"So it **is** the plumber. Why did you call a night shift guy?" Nick asked, stretching out and yawning.

"It's not the plumber. It's the new studder," Judy said, pulling nick out of bed and slapping his wallet in his hands. "He was available, he's here. Pay him,"

"New one? Guess that big bun was really shooting blanks after all," Nick said with a yawn. "You better be charging less than the last guy. And get results, I don't need..." He stopped on seeing who it was. A naked, canine figure, black and tan with a pumped body. "What? The last guy was useless but he had a chance. What's this? Isn't he one of those mechanics from the motor pool?"

"Rabbits need extensive preparation for a proper birth," Judy said. "Usually a consistent partner will do double duty, but he can stud while the other one does pregnancy things."

"I could do that, for free. We have bills, you know," Nick snapped.

"Nick! I need this. You can do it, but it's better to have professionals. This is my first and it has to go right," Judy snapped back. "If you loved me, you'd make sure everything was perfect to bring children into the world just right."

Nick rolled his eyes and opened his wallet. "How much?"

"Train your boy better, he doesn't know how it works," the canine said, rising up and looming over Nick before sharply slapping him across the face.

Judy restrained Nick, using pressure point contact to subdue him. "Nick! This is how it has to work. He's a professional, there are rules. You're part of it and need to do your part. Now get naked. This is what's best for everyone."

"Best?" Nick asked. He was certain he knew him.

"He's just an agency stud, no, he's not anyone familiar. Just do your part," Judy insisted, looking lustfully at the canine there to take the action away from what was supposed to happen.

"My part is getting to be me going out for a drink with Finnick like the old days," Nick quipped with a chuckle.

A look from Judy had the canine grab Nick by the scruff and slap him again. "That's not how it goes," Judy insisted. "You have to make sure he's doing it properly. And you can't just run off to see Finnick, or any of the other guys. How do I know you're not sneaking off to see some vixen?"

"The marriage should help reassure you," Nick huffed. "Do it again and Bogo's gonna get a very interesting message."

A further slap was halted by Judy, but the canine did shake Nick by his scruff. "You're not trustworthy. You're a fox. Foxes sneak. Your wife is very concerned, and you being here helps everyone."

"It's for our good, Nick," Judy said, stripping out of her clothes and motioning to the bedroom. "For our good."

Nick had been familiar with the idea of being with other men. It had even been a desperate consideration when the money got low. But he had never actually done it. It wasn't his thing. But no one told the studding canine about that. For whatever bizarre reason he serviced Judy but also insisted of dominating Nick, BITEs tugging his scruff, hands all over his body, violation against his will, using his muscles against Nick to keep his compliant, during assaults and during intercourse with Judy.

It ended with emptiness. A hollow felling inside. It was so ugly, so uncomfortable. As Judy basked in what looked to be pleasure, little caring for anything else, the canine growled in Nick's ear, "This is how it works. Studding is how it all goes now. Keep working, keep paying, keep her happy. That's your job now. That and nothing else." With one last BITE he flopped atop Judy, possessing her, keeping her from Nick.

The empty feeling was cold. He was all but muzzled. And he couldn't do anything in that moment but stare at the ceiling and think.

o o o

The cup of coffee, sipped long and slow, did finally go down to bitter dregs of coffee that touched her lips and tongue. She had grown used to the fancy coffee in the city, and had already forgotten the imperfections of a percolator. One cup gone and no sign of the two guys. Well, the man and the weakling. They had nothing at all in common. She smiled over the cup at that thought.

Maybe there was an extended session going on out there. Her tiger was hot enough to steam in the frost. And Nick deserved being put on ice. It would make his little Nick shrivel even more, and really fit in the cage. Cold metal on his personal area, kept tiny, extra pathetic. No wonder her stripey stud was taking so long. It must have been as arousing for him as it was for her.

Another cup of coffee was halfway gone before the front door rattled. "About time. I hope Nick can walk, he needs to make us a big breakfast..." Judy said.

"Good morning, my darling," Nick said from the door, shutting it behind him as he entered. He was covered in thin scratches, claw rakes that did not hit the mark, near-miss BITE marks. He was scuffed and scraggly, and dressed only in some cloth that he had tied around his hips. "I can walk. Walk tall, because it's finally coming together."

"N-nick?!" Judy cried out, nose twitching wildly and her eyes wide. Everything had been going so smoothly, so perfectly by her own planning. Nick was out of his place. "Where's..?"

"Let's take this all in order," Nick said, surprisingly calm, his tone even, though he was actively moving his body in deliberate steps, controlling shivering, controlling coming down from an adrenaline high, keeping himself from panting through even, careful breathing. "When it started, how big did you think it was going to get? The first one was on purpose, but it made sense."

It took Judy a moment to mentally shift, her form smoothly sliding into a composed, and confident, posture. "Nick, this isn't how it works, you know what you're supposed-"

"Not the question I asked," Nick said with a wag of his finger, looking just as confident, almost more so. Confident and commanding, like a stern teacher. "We're not moving the goals or shifting the frame until you answer the specific question."

"Nick, you're being very childish and petulant," Judy asserted.

"Not an answer either. Answer the specific question. How far was planned and how much was an improvisation?" Nick asked. "That only works if I'm still in need of emotional links and reassurances. I have different assurances now. Answer that question, or answer to the scale. Who is compromised in the ZPD? It'll all come out, but I need to know from you."

Judy stared at him, violet eyes narrowing, gaze growing hard and hateful. "This isn't how it's supposed to be. It was just that buck. Just him. He was doing his job. But I found out you could do more. I wanted to do more, it's my right to do more, to feel free."

"Not at my expense, fluff," Nick said with a sudden hint of mirth. "Neither of us are lawyers but we've been through basic law stuff. The academy drilled at least that into our heads. I'm not a frog for you to boil but you really did a number, step by step. Glad I took the extra interdiction course. After Bellwether's shenanigans it was only practical."

"And... what was it?" Judy asked.

"I shouldn't be surprised you didn't know... things weren't exactly on the up and up..." Nick sighed with a shake of his head. "Long-term infiltration and potential recovery from cultic influence. I had it drilled into my head how to identify, play alongside, prevent the influence of, and help an escapee recover from a cult."

"Nick... this isn't some cult, this is just our relationship," Judy said, with a soft and slightly condescending tone.

Nick grinned as he held up four digits. "Always remember the four letters of undue influence, the ties that strangle you, the kinds of control. Behavior. Information. Thought. Emotion. Audit every sentence, run every idea through an active part of the brain, don't accept face value or bare statements. The second you allow belittling to be normal, that's emotion control becoming a perpetual deflection. You really should have taken the course, carrots. It might have made you a more successful cult leader. But I guess maybe knowing how it works can't be turned around and used for evil."

Judy tapped her foot rapidly on the floor, eyes casting around quickly. "We agreed to this. You went along with it. You had to be okay with it."

"Training kicked in when the pills fell into the sink," Nick said. "When I saw what was happening it hurt a lot, because I trusted you. I loved you, and the thing is, you knew it. You followed the textbook so close I thought you had studied on your own time. You ratcheted perfectly, saw how casually you could get me to go along with this little bit more, that little bit more. You took that love. And used it. Turned it on me. Made it a weapon, As long as I loved you, I wouldn't fight you. Cliche, but you did it well."

"You went with it. Watched the rabbit stud, let the canine from the garage..." Judy started.

"So now you say it," Nick said with a laugh. "I mean, he's already marked for a prison cell. But no. I didn't let that happen. I was forced. It's assault and battery, with coercion used to keep me quiet. Threats of bodily harm. There's victim intimidation to add to everything else. Workplace harassment since he checks and signs out cars we might use. If I refuse he could give us a car with problems. Should have been smarter, carrots. That's a weak spot."

"I did this for us, to make things exciting. You should have said something," Judy coolly said.

"I did, and you didn't listen," Nick replied. "I didn't want any of that, and I asked you constantly, you just gave me, and forgive me for this carrots, the worst lines ever. You're lucky you never had to live as a hustler, you're bad at it. Special studding to prepare you? Once you ditched the rabbit I knew it was a full cult takeover. When you stopped me from seeing Finnick, though... that was when you tipped your hand too much. You're supposed to wean me off of friends, isolate me slowly and make me think I did it to myself. You're just bad at it."

"What I did was what was right for me, Nick. And you love me, I thought you were supporting me," Judy insisted, facade cracking as desperation crept into her voice.

"I probably could have, maybe," Nick said with a shrug. "Foxes don't do that poly thing, really. Silly stereotype someone invented. But if everything had been on the up-and-up, it might have been more reasonable. You could have kept the rabbit, gotten pregnant, made a fun game out of it. But no, you showed your hand when the gaslighting started. That's one of the signs you're trained to look for. Denials of reality, an attempt to throw the cult victim off-center, make them doubt their sanity in a way controlled by the cult leader. That's another reason you isolate. But you needed me to pay the bills. And you had to work, occasionally. You couldn't keep me out of public, and that pre-maternity scam meant you couldn't keep me in a muzzle. And let's face it. In modern times, it's impossible to completely isolate someone unless you're hustling to make it work."

"You did your job, and I made sure someone was keeping an eye on you. You didn't do anything unusual, you even came straight home, no chance to do anything. I swear, Nick, I thought it was working out. You acted just like I thought you would for this kind of thing, you participated in everything, you were into it," Judy said, her tone growing softer, more smooth and caring, like it had once been. "I got caught up in what I could do, what I saw and how it could be. I just wanted it to work."

"Decent attempt, I give it a three out of five, room to improve," Nick snarked, clapping insincerely. "Pointing out how carefully you tried to control me doesn't help your case. Besides... it's all over." From within the knotted-up cloth he pulled both Judy's carrot pen recorder and a much more sophisticated ZPD-issue body cam with the separate mini screen attached to it. "Did you know you can get a decent signal from the roof and can upload video footage if you, for example, hide a signal-booting transmitter in the luggage that you pack and no one bothers to look through?"

Judy's nose went a mile a minute on seeing the equipment, but the additional information about the other things made her ears fall like birds that were shot. "I don't know what you think you did but you're confused..."

" _I'm gonna wreck your ass, fox. You learn your place!"_

" _Is that on the record? A threat of sexual battery?"_

" _You want sex batteries I'll shove a dozen of them up you, maybe you'll get better at taking my orders or listening when Judy tells you to shut up and give me your ass or cage your little foxlet stick..."_

" _I would like to point out, I don't consent to this."_

" _You never did! That's the point you fa- wait, what is that? Is that a dil- hold on! Give me that!"_

"Same as it ever was. It's called a hustle, sweetheart. Back and forth. Looks like I win the whole thing," Nick said, tapping the side of his head with the carrot pen.

"Give me the pen, Nick, just... let's start over, just like it was," Judy said, holding out her hand and demurely smiling.

"You're supposed to ask what was on the body camera. And how long I've had ZPD hardware that you didn't even know about. That checks some boxes off my list of unknowns. You're really just making this up as you go along, aren't you?" Nick asked.

"This isn't a game Nick, this is my life... OUR lives, Nick. Our lives. Are you going to ruin all that for whatever fantasy you think is going on? You're not thinking straight," Judy softly cooed, slowly trying to approach Nick.

"Can't turn it off even now. They taught us that too. Even the cult leader needs it to be true, needs to be right and sure, all the way to the end when the cuffs come on. It's just sad, carrots," Nick sighed, with a shake of his head. "You should really give me props. This was a lot of work, because as ridiculous as it is, I was genuinely unsure who I could trust, like I was living in a bad spy movie. Or bad porno. But you can't just turn off reactions, you can't completely resist the cult brainwashing attempts, no matter how good you were at the training. You mitigate and hold on to something. I held onto me, who I am. That's how I moved forward, remembering that I wasn't what you told me. I wasn't gaslighted as much as you wanted. I went forward even if I thought every step was into your plan. Which... I know you didn't have. Now."

" _Hey chief, got a second?" Nick asked, looking around outside Bogo's office before slipping in and shutting the door._

" _Whether or not I do seems of little consequence to you, fox," Bogo blandly noted, looking at Nick over the top of his spectacles, a deadpan and longsuffering gaze."What is it this time?"_

" _Through no fault of my own, I assure you, I was suddenly thrust into a very... touchy situation," Nick said, pacing in front of the huge desk that dominated the room. "It involves serious corruption. Official corruption. I was deep in it before I had a chance to back away. I'm basically undercover right this minute."_

" _I didn't authorize anything of the sort," Bogo snorted. "Autonomy has a place but you work the assignments I give you."_

" _I was off the clock, and I'm deep in it now," Nick protested. "I got too far. I just need it to look legit, in the books but not for everyone to see. Official corruption."_

" _It's in the station?" Bogo asked._

" _I have reason to believe so, one of the mammals involved needs to not be named right now. They're not a cop but they work in the station if it's the one I'm thinking of," Nick explained._

" _Better you say nothing right now. Ripping off their arms and legs would only be cathartic, getting them when the whole rotten thing comes down would be justice," Bogo rumbled._

" _I'll need a few things. But... not where I can be seen directly getting them. Body cams, some official memory cards, things like that. I want them all seen and unable to squirm away," Nick said._

" _Paranoia is a dangerous game, Wilde. But I've seen that level of it, and we know there can be spies crawling around, innocent as... lambs," Bogo said. "So... I can check out the equipment, Give it an official usage, but how would you get it?"_

" _Benji. Benji's a good guy. He's uniquely suited to avoid being part of this," Nick noted._

" _What do you mean?"_

" _He's too innocent, he's too genuinely pure. The way he carries himself just means they can't turn him, not with the way they're doing it," Nick explained, doing a bit of razzle-dazzle with his hand movements._

" _Money, it's always money, and Officer Clawhauser is too comfortable to ever give in to that," Bogo said with a nod._

" _Not always money, but that too, just not his style," Nick said. "It's a big station, it's a big city, individual things fall through the cracks. Just assign them to him and have him pass off a duffel bag that looks just like mine. In the male locker room, steam, lots of loud talk, perfect place to do it, it looks natural to take a bag out of there."_

" _Right, I'll fill in the requisitions right now and have you in for another chat when the time comes to hand it off so you'll know. But Wilde, you listen to me, this had better go somewhere, and preferably somewhere big or I'll have more than your badge."_

" _Believe me sir, this will absolutely floor you."_

"You were hitting cliches like they were bugs on the highway. I thought you had already gotten him. But if you had, it would show in what he gave me or how he failed to report certain things. Easy to make a contingency for," Nick said. "But I was serious. You couldn't get Benji. Sweet, openly gay Benji. Bogo could be your tool, but not him. With him looped in Bogo would have to work on the level just to keep him from catching on. Isolation can't work without a cult compound. You needed me to work, and that meant I was free."

"In a police station? Nick... I saw everything you did. I knew about Clawhauser and what you did with him," Judy said with a somewhat salacious huskiness, her nose giving little twitches.

"Never play poker, your tell is literally plain as the nose on your face," Nick chuckled. "You can't gin up a memory that elaborate. It has to be something small. Trying to backstop the sexual assault by telling me what my sexuality is, that's pretty far. You didn't know. Bogo was clean, Benji was clean, and good at his role. One of my spare bags, swapped with one filled with the equipment I needed. Not all of it, though. It was a real risk doing one more thing, but I made a guess based on the jump between the bunny and the canine. You said not to go out, that you couldn't trust me. Bogo had a habit of breaking us up. It was completely natural to send me on minor nuisance calls. Disorderly conduct. Illegal parking. Drinking in public out of zone. Bunco. No details, no names, not when I got the call. But he knew what I needed once I told him about that part of the plan."

_A marked ZPD cruiser slowly came to a stop next to a van blaring loud, aggressive Sahara Square garage rock in the middle of an active business area. The Coyotl-inspired art emblazoned on the side really made the rather junky vehicle pop and get a lot of notice._

_Nick stepped out of the cruiser and knocked on the back doors, a rapid sequence of varied clusters. The music stopped immediately, and Nick quirked a brow behind his aviators as the doors opened. "Noise complaint? You're better than that. And it usually works better at night."_

" _This is night for some folks, brother," Finnick said, opening the doors wide and offering Nick entrance to the decorated interior. Thick and colorful Sahara Square rugs were matched with overstuffed pillows, along with the accoutrements of living like a camp stove and food storage._

" _I'll take what I can get," Nick sighed. "You check out your guy?"_

" _He's not hammerin' that psycho bunny of yours," Finnick snorted "He'd be on your payroll if he was, sounds like she wants you payin' all the bills. You sure she's got extras you ain't financin'?"_

" _Can't be sure of much at this stage," Nick said. "So, he's clean and he's good. I need the system set up as the last contingency. Always gotta keep a bolt-hole. I'm doing my best to make it work if he's the weak link. You too, lil toot-toot."_

" _As if, red," Finnick laughed. "I can do better than that unfaithful rag."_

" _Still my wife. Technically," Nick said with mock anger._

" _Yeah, yeah..." Finnick went over and picked up a silver briefcase almost his own size. "It's all in here. He sent instructions to the clean email on the second burner. Got the signal booster in there, plus the editing laptop, just follow the instructions. Why a booster? You can upload full movies from a potato in the city."_

" _That always seemed more like Duke's thing," Nick mused with a grin. "She's hinting, hard, that she's upgrading my payment plan, and she's gotta parade me around home again, I think the in-laws are getting suspicious. Wonder what's the next step up the ladder?"_

" _You gonna end up payin' a damned elephant sooner or later. Good. Split that cheatin' bun in half, save you some green, red," Finnick said, with an ambiguous tone that hovered between mirth and musing._

" _I can't keep up the payments that long if she takes her time between upgrades," Nick said with a smirk. "Thanks, man, I really owe you."_

" _Yeah ya do..." Finnick softly said, giving Nick a fist-bump when presented with the chance. "Or maybe we're always gonna be even. Stuff don't change, Nick. Not between mammals like us. We got our past. And I'm always gonna want ta help you have a future. So you go and get her."_

"I think you would have tried it. And I genuinely think you think you could have done it," Nick said with a shake of his head. "But this isn't the fantasy world you imagine it to be. You worked like any manipulative mammal. You used my love, you framed your arguments, you gaslighted me. And you thought it was working because I knew the tricks and knew how to keep you thinking you were doing it. The chief, Benji, Finnick, others around the station, everyone was pulling for me. Everyone who had a part of the information wanted the best for me. That's the difference. You wanted all you could bleed out of me, for you. It's lonely at the top, fluff."

"Finnick and I... came to an understanding," Judy said with a smooth and easy smile, turning away to get her cell phone from her bag. "He'll take care of everything."

"Even if that's true, I told you, I covered all the angles," Nick said with a grin. "Everyone had a part of the whole plan, but no one got it all. Even if you got to Finnick, the equipment works. I know, I tested it, a couple of times. But more importantly, the evidence didn't just go to Bogo. If you got to him, that's a surprise but, there's a delayed sending. My own version of a dead man's switch. If Bogo doesn't act on it, it all gets mailed to every ADA in Zootopia, plus the police brass, plus a random selection of folks, with instructions to spread it around. This isn't a cheap novel or bad porno. You aren't the star of the show, the world has no reason to bend to your will."

Judy seemed ready to slam her phone into the ground when her ears perked up and her head turned to the door, nose twitching rapidly. "Wh-what? Sirens?"

"County law," Nick said, pulling on some actual clothes from his disheveled bags. "Coordinating with local LEOs, you know, standard procedure. And yes, I planned for this too. If I go missing or all of this disappears, the county will find out just how much of an unforgiving beast the chief can be. He'll ream the sheriff dry and work his way down through every deputy, and the DA will have a field day prosecuting conspiracy and misconduct. The sheriff won't get reelected but the DA sure will."

Judy shuffled around in a panic, almost missing Nick making his way out the door. "Wait! Where are you going?"

"I need some time off, some actual, good sleep after all this... this," Nick explained. "I'm heading to your family's place. Sent them a copy, too. And this..." He held up the carrot pen. "Will make it all come together."

"You can't... remove... evidence..." Judy almost stammered, her entire world nothing more than brittle glass clattering around her.

Nick showed off a second one and played both of them. Identical. "They're a novelty. Here..." He threw one on the bed and pocketed the other one. "Destroy evidence, like I know you want to. But I've got the other one for when the sheriff comes to pick me up to get my statement. I'd say it's been fun but... at this point, I think we're a little sick of lying to each other..."

Judy glanced out the window, noting the flashing of coming country cruisers, staggered over to the stove, slumping down, head in her hands. She turned aside to see Nick step out of the door with his suitcase into the chilly midmorning. All she could do was see the blue and red flashing lights washing over his body. See his retreating back in the subtle haze, walking tall in the light down the country road to make her a pariah to her family.

And all she could do was suck in helpless breaths, and grieve.

**Author's Note:**

> BITE- A bit of a tell, all the instances appear in capitals to heavily hint at the cultic/manipulative naure of the relationship through the BITE model of manipulative influence, as Nick later explains. Behavior Control, Information Control, Thought Control, Emotional Control.
> 
> The bunny male and the pills- I disclaim any information about any similar elements, this is for entertainment purposes only and any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental
> 
> Not a cheap novel or bad porno- Not necessarily true but it mostly shows the weakness of such things. Even in a really bad porno, if an author is honest and knows when they've written drek, the story has to play out as it should, or else they compound contrivance. Even in some bizarro world where Judy has the power to hypnotize more and more lovers, you get to either a tipping point where the conspiracy is useless, or revealed, or Nick just has so many built-in contingencies, like his Dead-Man's Switch, that the author must admit they're beaten and can only win by making Nick stupid.


End file.
